What are some of the note worthy air battles from WW2 from any side's perceptive? They could be small or great, many planes over a long period or just a hand full of planes in a short but interesting battle.

-BoB

-Battle of Midway

-Sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse

-Any ace vs ace battles

-Battle for Guadalcanal

What are some of the note worthy / interesting air battles (large or small, important or unimportant) that you can think of?

What are some of the note worthy air battles from WW2 from any side's perceptive? They could be small or great, many planes over a long period or just a hand full of planes in a short but interesting battle.

-BoB

-Battle of Midway

-Sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse

-Any ace vs ace battles

-Battle for Guadalcanal

What are some of the note worthy / interesting air battles (large or small, important or unimportant) that you can think of?

The entire strategic bombing campaign over "Festung Europa", waged by the Brits by night and the Americans by day. By the sheer number of aircraft involved on both sides, and with the quality of the opposition, nothing comes close for me.

Of note, Ploesti and the Regensburg-Schweinfurt missions need special mention.

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how about the 3 Sturmgruppen up against the US 8th AF 445th bg and slaughtering them with around 30 B-24's lost..........today s date even : September 27th, 1944 near Kassel. the 445th bg would of been wiped out of the skies had not the US 8th AF 361st come to their rescue in the last moments

Battle of Malta resulted in losses of over 1000 aircraft (recent numbers) combined hardly a small battle .
The air battle over Dieppe in Aug 42 was the largest dogfight of WW2 48Spit squadrons and over 200 LW aircraft

Here is a multi page narrative about one helluva fight in a 40 mile radius of Munich in which 5 CW's (270+) B-17s, 2 Mustang Groups (87+ P-51's), and somewhere between 220-250 German single engine and twins collided for nearly an hour.

Not the Biggest air battle but one of the most intense in a small area.

Battle of Malta resulted in losses of over 1000 aircraft (recent numbers) combined hardly a small battle .

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I didn't realize that many were lost.... I'll have to do some reading. Thanks for the clarification. When I think "Malta", I think "Faith, Hope and Charity" - the Gloster Gladiators. It's a story we dont hear enough about!

To say Malta's air defences were small at the beginning of WWII would be an under statement.
The total air power on Malta consisted of 4 Gloster Gladiator biplanes. These were packed in crates left at Kalafrana flying boat base by HMS Glorious which left to join the Norwegian campaign. In fact, there were enough parts to make up 8 biplanes but the Navy wanted 4 back to join the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle.
The remaining 4 were assembled, 3 were to be used on operations with the reamaining 1 kept in reserve. After assembling the biplanes the Royal Navy decided on having them back for work in Alexandria, so they were taken apart for re-packing.
Following talks between Air Commodore Maynard the Royal Navy it was decided to leave the biplanes on Malta they were re-assembled. Their first use in combat came at 0649 on the 11th of June 1940 when 10 Italian Savoia Marchetti 79 bombers bombed Grand Harbour. No aircraft were shot down in this encounter.
On the 7th raid of the day the Gladiator's drew blood by shooting down a Macchi 200 fighter. Although the biplanes were slower than the Italian fighters they were more manouverable.
Flying Officer John Waters nicknamed the aircraft 'Faith, Hope Charity'.
Three bladed propellers were fitted in place of the usual two to give the biplanes a faster rate of climb. Other parts were later used from a Swordfish. Superchargers were left on maximum during the climb after take off (which was against orders) so they could gain height faster. This put extra strain on the engines 2 of them blew pistons. Maintenance crews converted Blenheim bomber engines to fit the Gladiators.
Faith, Hope Charity fought for 17 days without relief played a fundamental role in fooling the Italian intelligence into thinking Malta had a substantial fighter defense.

Italian intelligence is that an oxymoron?
Hey... I'm half Italian... I can say that!

IMO, The Battle of Coral Sea is almost equal in importance to Midway.. I'm sure any Australian thinks so too!

IMO, The Battle of Coral Sea is almost equal in importance to Midway.. I'm sure any Australian thinks so too!

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Agreed. I'll also throw in the defence of Port Morseby by 75 sqn RAAF in early '42 when they were the only fighter squadron to oppose the Japanese in New Guinea at the time.
Mention should also go to the two RAAF Kittyhawk squadrons who played a big part in helping to defeat the Japanese at the Battle of Milne Bay.
Also what about the Japanese pushing aside all allied air opposition at the start of the pacific war in the PI, Malaya, Singapore, NEI etc.

Operation Tidal Wave, The Ploesti raid... a day without parallel in the history of the USAAF.

In all, 54 B-24s were lost, 41 of them shot down. Others crashed on landing, and seven were stranded in neutral Turkey. Two were lost in a midair collision during the return flight. In all, 306 men were killed and some 200 others were taken prisoner or interned. The damage sustained by the surviving aircraft was such that only 30 or so of the original 178 were fit for combat on the following day.

Five medals of honor were awarded, more than for any single mission in WW II.